White pan bread price increases for third straight month

The average price paid for white pan bread increased 0.9c per lb in May while the price of whole wheat bread increased 3.3c in the month, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.

The national average retail price of white pan bread was 146.3c, up 0.9c per lb from April and up 6.2c from May 2014. On a month-to-month basis, the average price for white pan bread in May increased in three regions — up 1.9c in the Midwest, up 1.5c in the South and up 0.5c in the West — and was down 1c in one region — the Northeast.

At 204.1c per lb, the national average price for whole wheat bread was up 3.3c per lb from April and up 2.5c per lb from May 2014.

The national average price of family flour in May was 52c per lb, up 1.1c from April but down 1.2c from May 2014.

The national average price for spaghetti and macaroni in May was 133.5c per lb, down 0.2c from April but up 3.4c from May 2014. Chocolate chip cookies were 321.2c per lb, down 12.3c from April and down 17.9c from May 2014. The national average price of white long-grain rice was 67.6c per lb, up 0.6c from April but down 6.3c from May 2014.